Massachusetts businesses with 24 or more employees must disclose salary range for new jobs

BOSTON — Massachusetts businesses with more than 25 employees must disclose salary ranges when posting job openings, under a new bill signed Wednesday that brings the commonwealth into line with 10 other states that already require pay transparency.

The new law also protects a worker’s right to ask his employer about the salary scale when applying for a job or seeking a promotion.

“This new law is an important step toward closing the wage gap, particularly for people of color and women,” Democratic Gov. Maura Healey said in a written statement after signing the bill. “It will also strengthen the ability of Massachusetts employers to build diverse and talented workforces.”

Healey’s signature makes Massachusetts the 11th state to impose pay transparency by requiring employers to disclose salary ranges, her supporters said, citing data from the National Women’s Law Center.

Supporters of the new law said it builds on a 2016 state law that banned pay discrimination based on sex.

“Massachusetts is now one step closer to equal pay for equal work,” House Speaker Ronald Mariano, a Democrat, said after Lawmakers sent the bill to Healey last week. “Pay transparency will not only make our workplaces more equitable, it will also make Massachusetts more competitive with other states.”

Senate Democratic President Karen Spilka said last week that it is all too common for women and people of color to be paid less than their colleagues nationwide, and Massachusetts is not immune.

The head of Associated Industries of Massachusetts, which bills itself as the state’s largest trade association, praised lawmakers for working with advocacy and business groups to craft a final compromise version of the bill.

“AIM believes these important policy changes strike the right balance between promoting open and honest communication about wages without burdening our employers with burdensome and time-consuming reporting requirements,” said Brooke Thomson, AIM President, after the final bill was released.

The law also requires companies with more than 100 employees to share their federal wage and workforce reports with the state’s Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development. The agency is responsible for compiling and publishing aggregate wage and workforce data to help identify gender and racial wage gaps by industry.

The attorney general’s office will also be empowered to impose fines or civil citations for violations of the law, and employees will receive protections against retaliation for asking about pay ranges when applying for a job or promotion.

The Attorney General will lead a public awareness campaign about the new rules.

In Greater Boston, the gender wage gap was 21 cents in 2023, according to the Boston Council of WomenAccording to the group, black women faced a 54-cent wage gap, while Hispanic and Latina women faced a 52-cent wage gap and Asian women faced a 19-cent wage gap.